"A mind once stretched by a new idea can never regain its original dimensions." ~Oliver Wendall Holmes

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Friday, September 04, 2009

Camping at Fish Camp

Avery's Boy Scout troop went camping Saturday and invited me to go along with them. Originally, I had said no because I went with them last time and because I was looking forward to some quiet time alone. Then, I went to pick up one of the other boys to give him and his dad a ride to the boat harbor. His mom asked me if the 'moms' were allowed to go and said that she would like to go. So I decided to go with her. With all the boys and all the gear, we needed two boats to take two trips in order to get everything out to the campsite. It was an absolutely glorious day and the short boat ride to fish camp was pleasant.That boat is full of Scouts and you can see the oil tanks that store all of the gas that we need for the winter. On the way upriver, we passed through a slough that I had never been up before. It was like a graveyard for old barges and tugboats. There had to have been about 15 as far as I could see and one of the guys was saying that there were plenty more back in the trees and some that were completely submerged by now. They were also saying that some of them date back to the 1800's. I just thought it was kind of cool, but kind of eery how they were all lined up along the banks, skeletons of the sea.They had a garden that they had started out at their fishcamp, but it needed some tending. It definitely had potential. I thought I saw some rhubarb in there and I got all excited, but it turned out to be something else. I have been having a craving for rhubarb. Not sure why. I think I'll get some and make some jam with it or some rhubarb crumble or something.This is the boat that we rode up there and the beach that I collected my fourth jar of sand for Number 22 on the Birthday List. Beautiful scenery, eh? It's really nice to get outside of Bethel were to there are trees all around. It's one of the things that I miss living here. Trees.I took a long walk up the beach with the other scout mom and even did some yoga on the beach. It was a beautiful day and even though yoga is not much of a workout, at least it's something and I felt calmer afterward. It was kind weird doing yoga in boots though.This is the direction that we walked down the beach. You can see our footprints and by the time we turned around and headed back, one set of prints was already covered with water because of the rising tide.The boys hangin' around camp. There were a total of 17 boys and 6 adults. Quite a group. The is the fishcamp of one of the scout masters. A couple of other visitors showed up for a little while including the daughter of one of the scouts masters who ended up sleeping in the girls tent with me and the other scout mom. I showed her some of my yoga moves.One of the Scout masters and some of the boys workin' on their requirements.Lined up to work on water rescue using a rope.The boys learned how to tie the correct knot and then through the rope out like a lasso to a person who has fallen off of a boat. They had some fun seeing if they could drag each other "into the boat" (they were practicing on land).Avery's turn to be pulled in and saved from drowing.They fish camp across the river.Me lounging in the sun. It was really warm that day...probably around 55degrees.One of the Scout masters offered to take a few of us out on the boat for some drift net fishing since some of us had never been out fishing before.The family dog chased the boat part of the way down the beach. She was cute.Here's the drift net out in the water. I was surprised how big it was. I had never done this before. I am happy that I finally got a chance to go out fishing. It would be a shame to have lived in Alaska and never have gone salmon fishing.And we actually caught one...And we actually caught two...Catching two was pretty good because the salmon are at the end of there run and we talked to a couple of other people out on the river that day that hadnt caught any. Two nice pretty Coho or Silver salmon.Here's our fish camp host teaching us how to filet a salmon.We ended up throwing two filets on the grill for dinner that night and I got to take the other two home with me. I cooked them up the next day and had some friends over for dinner.That night, one of the Scout dads decided he wanted to burn the brush pile out by the river. It went up in a blaze that amazed everybody. The burning leaves were flying off and floating into the sky. It was very pretty, but maybe a bit dangerous for the surrounding wilderness. Luckily it had been raining for about a week straight before that so there wasnt much chance of fire. And the fire chief is one of the Scouts dads, so I'm sure he could have directed us in putting it out if we needed to.It was a pretty big fire and kept the boys entertained for about an hour.Then they decided to camouflage with tree limbs and go run around in the woods playing some game or another. It sounded like they had a good time. They adults sat around the camp fire and had some nice adult conversation.It was a bit dreary the next morning. Here we are cooking up our breakfast...eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes. I had a yogurt.Getting the morning campfire going...This is what 20 scouts eating breakfast looks like.And then it was time to go...I headed home around 11am with the first boatload of people. The rest of the Scouts hung out there all day working on merit badge stuff. Avery got home that afternoon around 4pm. It sounded like they had a good time. We all did!

About Me

I'm a high school science teacher currently living my dream of teaching out in bush Alaska. I'm always up for new adventures and like to travel anywhere and everywhere. This blog is a way to keep in touch with friends and family, journal about life, and share my experiences with the world.